Jim Speros

Jim Speros
Born	(1959-02-17)February 17, 1959
Residence	Great Falls, Virginia
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	Clemson University
Home town	Potomac, Maryland
Spouse(s)	Ellen Speros
Children	3
Parents	Leo and Linda Speros

Jim Speros (born February 17, 1959) is an American businessman and former American football player and coach from Great Falls, Virginia, best known for his ownership of teams in the Canadian Football League and United Football League.

Early career

Speros is an alumnus of Clemson University.^[1] He later served as an assistant coach for the Washington Redskins (serving on the staff of the championship 1982 Washington Redskins season) and Buffalo Bills. When Speros accepted the job to serve on Joe Gibbs' staff, it made him the youngest full-time assistant coach in NFL history.

Baltimore Stallions ownership

He is best known for his ownership of, and presidency over, the Baltimore Stallions, the most successful team from the Canadian football league expansion to the United States. The Stallions' success was due in large part to Speros' involvement. He managed to build a successful franchise in Baltimore with crowds that consistently topped 30,000 Memorial Stadium over its two year existence. During his time with the Stallions, Speros also served as vice commissioner of the league under commissioner Larry Smith.^[2]

The Stallions were a runaway success on the field as well. He knew that Canadian football was very different from the American game, and stocked the Stallions with CFL veterans. This approach paid off very well, as the Stallions advanced all the way to the Grey Cup final in both seasons, winning it in 1995.

However, Speros' ambitious ownership of the Stallions would not last long. During the Grey Cup playoffs, the Cleveland Browns announced plans to move to Baltimore. The resulting dispute ultimately resulted in the Browns' franchise being suspended for four years, while the Browns' players and personnel moved to Baltimore as the Baltimore Ravens. Although the Stallions had been a hit, Speros knew they could not possibly compete with an NFL team. He moved the team to Montreal to become the current incarnation of the Alouettes.^[3] However, the CFL refused to let Speros' team keep their legacy as the Stallions. According to official CFL records, Speros is reckoned as having canceled his franchise in Baltimore and reclaimed the dormant 1946-86 Alouettes franchise. Speros kept the team for one more year before selling the team to Robert C. Wetenhall in early 1997, handing over the title of team president to Smith.

United Football League involvement

In May 2010, Speros rejected an overture to buy the United Football League's Florida Tuskers.^[4] In June 2010 he was named as the owner of the Virginia Destroyers, an expansion team set to begin play in Norfolk, Virginia in 2011. Speros named former Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams as the team's general manager. In late August 2010, Speros backed out of negotiations due to multiple flaws in the contracts presented to him as well as the league structure.^[5] Speros specifically cited the inability for him to acquire an entire franchise instead of investing in a single-entity league.^[6] However, Speros said he remained open to purchasing the team if terms changed, and that he continued to support the league's efforts in the region.^[5][7] Ironically, in January 2011, the league cancelled the Virginia expansion franchise and moved the Tuskers to Virginia instead; in August 2012, the league contracted the Hartford Colonials and assigned that team's owner, Bill Mayer, as the Destroyers' owner after failing to find an owner to replace Speros.

Other

From years 1997-2009, Speros served as the President & CEO of three publicly traded software companies: Sideware Systems Inc., Braintech, and Chalk. The Vancouver, Canada-based Sideware Systems Inc. was one of Speros' first business ventures after his ownership in the Canadian Football League. This company was traded on the Vancouver Stock Exchange under the symbol SYD.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2012, Speros was named to the Board of Directors for the Washington, D.C. based Military Bowl.^[8]

Personal life

Speros, who grew up in the restaurant business, is the founder and owner of five upscale sports restaurants in the Northern Virginia area called Velocity Five. The first restaurant of the five, located in Merrifield, Virginia, opened in 2008. The most recent Velocity Five opened in May 2011 in Lansdowne, Virginia.^[9]

He and his wife, Ellen, have three children. Their son, Jimmy, plays football for the University of Richmond.^[10]

Speros' father, Leo, played running back at the University of Maryland from 1951-1954. His brothers, Pete and George, also played college football. Pete, an All-American at Penn State, was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 1983 NFL Draft. George played linebacker at Temple. Speros' nephew, Chris, plays alongside Jimmy at the University of Richmond.^[11]

Speros graduated from St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C..

References